Wednesday, 6 September 2017

BREAKING BARRIERS

BREAKING BARRIERS.

As the popular saying goes « Seeing is believing »
I have always had the zeal to travel to the northern part of Ghana since I
heard a lot of good things about it. I was born and raised in the South and I
felt that applying for the International Citizen Service program will offer me the opportunity to learn
and experience the diverse culture of the people of the northern part of Ghana as
well as the western culture of the UK. On my arrival in Tamale I was very happy
at how the people of Tamale were welcoming. The in-country orientation was a good
opportunity to have a cross cultural learning, it was also my first time of
meeting my counterpart and team members and that is how the whole journey began

Moving to the Upper East Region to start the placement got
me very excited as we were partnered with Youth Alive which seeks to empower women
and youth. But this was not without a challenge of not knowing how to ride a
bike this is because unlike the south where public transport like “trotro” and
taxis are rampant, in the north they are a bit difficult to come by so people
use motorbikes, bicycles and “yellow yellow” to facilitate their movement. So
the first three days, I was given lift by my team members .I realized I had a
long way to go and I can’t depend on lifts so I took up the challenge to change
my world. So one sunny afternoon with the help of my lovely counterpart Sally, I
learnt how to ride a bike after that we treated ourselves to” fan yogurt” and
the rest is history,now I got mad skills hahaha😂😂😂.

Nancy and Sally having yogurt.

More so, I was keen on learning the UK culture. This opened
me up to a wide range of diversities of both Cultures. I came to terms that
things considered 'normal’ here in Ghana is not the same with the UK. A typical
instance is how the UK volunteers feel attached to some domestic animals such
as dogs and cat and even named the dog
in our office “Lola” which is the very opposite with the In-country volunteers.
And the use of “ring” instead of “call”,”okidoki” instead “okay” not forgetting how conscious they are with time.

Then came my host home which gave me more reason to feel a
part of a family. My host family comprise of my host mom and dad, two sisters
and two brothers. They are really warm people and there has never been a dull
moment at home. I have learnt a lot from them. From learning basic Kasim such
as “Dimwaru” means Good morning, “Akelei” means Thank you, “Kuyite” means how
are you? To learning how to stir TZ and preparing local soups like; “Kanzaga”
and “Saa”, to understanding the history
and culture of Navrongo .In Ghana there’s a history behind names certain towns so I got curious to know the meaning of
Navrongo from my host parents and I was told that people of Navrongo migrated
from Burkina Faso in search of a fertile land to settle when there got to the
present day Navrongo ,the land was very mushy
so they called the place ” Naga voro” which is because of the sound their feet made
anytime they walk due to the flooded nature of the land so they settled on the land with the reason
that, it is very fertile and good for cultivating crops like rice and millet. It
later became Navrongo due to One thing that cannot be left out is the beautiful
lake near our host home which makes the environment serene and gives a pretty
view of the sunset.

Nancy and Sally with their Host Parents.

This cannot be said
without the mention sensitizations on sexual reproductive health and early
child marriage ,planning of events ,teamwork which has helped me develop both
personally and professionally for my future career and also meeting with certain stakeholders
more especially the community development committee which has helped me to
understand and acquire practical knowledge and information on issues about people
from some rural communities. I had the opportunity to visit places like Tono irrigation dam which is the main source of fish for the people of Navrongo as well as
Tongo Hills

Volunteers at Tongo hills.

which is one the historical site in the Upper East Region. And guess
what? Just when I least expected my team members voted me as the ‘most improved
volunteer’ how cool is that 😉😉.

In all, this has given me a reason to say I have broken the
barrier to change my world.